Chapter 2072 – 2072. The Fallen Empire
The closer I got to Han Harin, the heavier my body felt. It was the effect of gravity.
[Using Acceleration. Duration: 10 minutes. Remaining stacks: 11]
Even with Acceleration, I didn’t feel like I was speeding up. If anything, I was slowing down. My body was excessively heavy. Was this what it felt like to sink into a swamp? An invisible force was pulling my body towards the ground.
[Using Moment. Remaining stacks: 10]
I kept moving forward. I couldn’t back down after coming this far.
Han Harin narrowed her brows. The gravity on my body intensified. My back was so compressed that I couldn’t stand straight. If I used Heavenly Heart, I could temporarily break free from the gravitational force. But this was a sparring match. I took a breath and focused my concentration.
Thunder Sky Style (雷天流) Gale Lightning (疾風迅雷).
[Using Time Acceleration. Remaining stacks: 5]
Three steps forward. Han Harin pressed her lips together. In the windless room, her hair fluttered. At the same time, twelve black spheres, gravity orbs, appeared around her.
‘Meteor Sword.’
The twelve meteor swords that appeared in the air pierced each gravity orb precisely.
In that moment, I reached Han Harin and held my sword to her neck. Han Harin sighed.
“…I lost.”
Neither of us had gone all out. This was just a sparring match. If she and I used our full power, the training ground wouldn’t hold up. And there was a high chance it wouldn’t end with just minor injuries.
“Whew. Sis, you’ve improved so much since the last time I saw you? I was sweating buckets.”
“What’s that ability to summon swords? Don’t tell me you awakened a new ability?”
“No way. It’s like an artifact. An artifact.”
“Is that so?”
Han Harin nodded without suspicion. It was understandable since she also had the Ring of Wishes I had given her. Han Harin probably thought of it as a kind of artifact.
“How’s the ring? Is it useful?”
“It’s more than just useful. After wearing this ring, it’s much easier to control my abilities. Especially, I almost never fail when using my abilities.”
It seemed the reason for her rapid growth was the ring.
I grinned, looking at the ring on her left ring finger.
“Your ring finger is pretty. The ring suits you well.”
“……It doesn’t have any special meaning. It just looks better on the left ring finger.”
“Ah, okay.”
“……”
As I kept grinning, she turned her head away. It was natural that her face was slightly flushed.
I approached Han Harin. Han Harin moved to the side, maintaining a certain distance. I could guess why. It was probably because of the sweat. It was a bit much to act like this now, after we had even smelled each other’s body odor, but I decided to understand since women were sensitive.
“You haven’t had dinner yet, right? Let’s eat and go see a movie. I heard ‘The Sea Princess’ or something like that just came out.”
“Okay, just wait a bit. I’ll go shower.”
“Wanna shower together?”
“There’s another shower room. Use that one.”
“There’s no soap or shampoo there.”
“There’s extra.”
My attempt to shower together failed. She probably knew that it wouldn’t end with just showering. Reluctantly, we showered separately, had dinner at a nice restaurant, and then headed to the movie theater.
The good mood we had was briefly ruined by the movie. I felt an urge to kill all the fish and then we returned home. We became beasts until dawn.
• • •
1 PM.
I opened my eyes in bed. Instinctively, I reached out to feel the space next to me. I only felt the texture of the bed sheets. Han Harin had either gone home or gone to work at the guild. It was always like this. I yawned, got up, and walked to the shower room.
After showering, I checked my schedule for the day.
‘I’m free.’
A freelancer hunter like me could work whenever I wanted. I didn’t feel like working today. Usually, when this happened, I would look for a woman or watch creative works like games, novels, or dramas.
‘I should catch up on some old dramas and movies.’
I watched a sitcom from 20 years ago. I couldn’t understand the sensibility of that time, so it wasn’t very interesting.
Brrr.
My smartphone vibrated. The caller ID showed it was Park Suho. He seemed to be very busy lately, so it was unexpected.
“Oh, Suho. What’s up?”
-Hyung. Are you busy by any chance?
His voice was serious. I had a hunch. Something had happened. It was probably something related to the Tattoo World.
“I’m free. What can I help you with?”
-Yes. Please help me. It’s not a difficult task, but I need a lot of supplies, so I was hoping you could get them for me.
“What kind of supplies?”
-Canned tuna, canned fruit, potatoes and corn, lunch boxes, and combat rations… I’ve ordered quite a lot, and it’s too much for me to handle alone.
“That’s all food. Are you taking it to the Tattoo World? Is there a famine in the Tattoo World? Or did a war break out?”
-Yes. A war broke out.
I could feel anger in Park Suho’s voice.
“Okay. I’ll help you.”
This was the time to help so I could take credit later.
The task wasn’t difficult. I bought the food he needed and received and organized the items that were being delivered from the warehouse in Gyeonggi Province. It was something that could easily be solved by hiring people, but since it was related to the Tattoo World, Park Suho was reluctant to hire anyone.
I helped Park Suho for about four days. I didn’t actually get to meet Park Suho. He was traveling all over the country to find the supplies he needed.
When I finally met him after a long time, he looked exhausted.
“Hyung. Thank you. It would have been much harder without you.”
“It wasn’t hard, I just had to sit here and receive the items. Did you get all the supplies you were looking for?”
“Yes. I got used weapons and armor. I wanted to buy everything new, but… if I did, the Hunter Association would notice something was wrong, so I tried to leave as little trace as possible.”
“Isn’t buying this much food a problem too?”
“I calculated the amount so that it wouldn’t be a problem. If I wanted to buy what was available right away, I had to divide it into categories like this.”
“How did the war break out?”
“…It’s quite complicated to explain. I’m not even sure if what I know is correct. I’ll explain it to you later. Thank you, Hyung.”
“Should I join the war and help you?”
“No. This is a war we have to overcome ourselves. I can’t involve an outsider like you.”
Park Suho’s expression was firm. Even if I pushed him, he wouldn’t accept my help.
‘War is no small matter. This is interesting. I should go to the Tattoo World separately and find out.’
Park Suho sent the large amount of food in the warehouse to the Tattoo World. He used something like a teleportation spell to send it all at once. Park Suho staggered for a moment. He looked very tired.
“You sent it all at once? That’s amazing.”
“I can’t use it for a while after using it once, and I’ll be exhausted. Whew, this solves the food and equipment problem. Thank you so much for today.”
“The war… good luck. Tell me if you need my help.”
“Haha. We can overcome this much. Veroprin and I are no longer a weak city.”
I said goodbye to Park Suho and left.
After returning home, I put on my Ghost Cloak, tore a space-travel scroll, and moved to the Tattoo World.
I appeared in an alleyway. There was a beggar sitting nearby, but he didn’t notice my presence because I was wearing the Ghost Cloak. I left the alleyway and walked around Veroprin.
I could feel the tension of war.
The citizens were preparing for war but hadn’t lost their vitality. I could see their belief and confidence that they could win.
‘Their morale is high. Does Park Suho have the justification for the war?’
It was difficult to gather information by just sneaking around. Wearing a mask would be too suspicious. What if Park Suho recognized me if I showed my face? I had to avoid being suspected by Park Suho.
‘This is when the Light Ascension Technique is useful in this world.’
A face-changing mask.
I put on a new face and headed to a tavern, pretending to be a mercenary. The tavern where mercenaries gathered was noisy. There was a bar, so I went there.
“I don’t recognize your face. You don’t seem to be from around here… Did you come from far away?”
My acting skills were a great help in situations like this. I smiled and said casually,
“Just a wandering mercenary. I came from very far away.”
“Oh, is that so? We get those sometimes. Wandering mercenaries like you. You probably came to get information and requests. What’s your order?”
“Beer.”
“I’ll give you a cold one. You won’t regret it.”
A cold beer appeared in front of me. I immediately took a sip. It wasn’t bad.
“…Are you deliberately holding back?”
“What?”
“Usually, mercenaries who drink our beer for the first time chug it all at once. But you… you haven’t even finished half.”
“It’s just a matter of preference. More importantly, I heard there’s a war going on in this city. What happened? Isn’t Veroprin part of the Solit Republic?”
“Hey. Veroprin is a neutral city. It’s allied with the Solit Republic, but its position hasn’t changed.”
“It seems the Solit Republic isn’t participating in this war.”
“It’s a territorial war. Even though the opponent is a great noble of the Felheim Empire, it’s just a territorial war, so the Republic doesn’t have enough justification to intervene.”
“…A territorial war with a great noble of the Empire? Is that right?”
“Normally, it wouldn’t make sense. But looking at the current state of the Empire, it’s not impossible.”
“What’s the state of the Empire?”
“Don’t mercenaries know that?”
“Do I have to know that kind of thing?”
“That’s why you mercenaries are called ignorant. It’s always helpful to know everything.”
“I’ll buy you a beer, so tell me.”
“…Hmm. I’m not that busy, so I guess it’s okay.”
The Felheim Empire.
The most powerful nation in this world until 200 years ago. But now, it was called the fallen empire.
The current emperor was a 15-year-old with no real power. Marquis Cordi, the emperor’s relative, held the real power.
“They say you can become a noble if you bribe Marquis Cordi. Ironically, the Empire is now the era with the most nobles, even though it’s fallen.”
“It’s fallen, but the country is still maintained?”
“Those guys don’t want to let go of the name of the Empire. Besides, capable nobles are supporting the Empire. They’re expanding their power through territorial wars.”
In other words, the Empire was now an era of warring factions. Nobles were fighting territorial wars to increase their power.
“The Empire is a fence. They know that if the Empire completely collapses, it will be absorbed by the Solit Republic.”
“Even so, that can’t be the reason why the territorial war was established. Veroprin isn’t part of the Empire.”
“The justification is the problem. Count Morck holds the justification for the war, so they have no choice but to wage a territorial war.”
“What’s the justification?”
“Mayor Park Suho killed Count Morck’s eldest son and brought Count Morck’s slaves and freed them.”
“……”
Park Suho was 100% in the wrong.
The bartender was aware of this, but he was still proud of Park Suho. He even seemed to welcome this war.
“You look like you don’t understand. Well, it’s understandable since you’re an outsider. But let me tell you this. Even if the justification is on their side, we are the righteous ones. All humans should enjoy freedom, and the Empire guys would have revealed their true colors to us sooner or later, even if this hadn’t happened. They have no faith.”
“So you welcome the war? Because you’re righteous?”
“Do you know how rotten Count Morck’s eldest son was? Raping women was basic, and every night, the screams of young boys echoed from his room until morning.”
“That’s disgusting. Do you guys trust Mayor Park Suho?”
“Of course. Mayor Park Suho is right. He is a hero chosen by the Goddess.”
A man sitting next to us, who had been eavesdropping on our conversation, nodded in agreement.
The loyalty towards Park Suho was immense.
However, the man in front of me seemed to be more than just that.
“Do you hate the Empire?”
“30% of Veroprin’s citizens are all former slaves or commoners from the Empire. We know firsthand how terrible the Empire is.”
“…Are you also a former slave of the Empire?”
“Yes. My father couldn’t pay his taxes, and our family became slaves. We were exploited by a lower noble for 20 years before finally settling in Veroprin. My father died from being whipped, and my mother died from syphilis, but… the time for revenge has finally come.”
The bartender gave a chilling smile.
Villain arc